A stork. Conte de la cigogne. An old wifes tale; silly tittle-tattle. On conte des choses merveilleuses de la cigogne (wonderful stories are told of the stork). This, no doubt, refers to the numerous Swedish legends of the stork, one of which is that its very name is derived from a stork flying round the cross of Christ, crying, Styrka! Styrka! (strengthen, strengthen, or bear up), and as the stork has no voice at all, the legend certainly is a Conte de la cigogne, or old wifes fable.